More Study Urged on Landfill Site : Gypsum Canyon Is Favored Despite Several Problems

A county-operated landfill in Coal or Gypsum canyons would present several problems, including potential contamination of the Santa Ana River if recommended precautions are not taken, a report to the county’s Waste Management Advisory Commission says.

The consultants’ report, scheduled for discussion by the commission today, concluded that known problems with either site could be overcome but recommended further study before any decision is made.

If all problems can be solved, the study concluded, “Gypsum Canyon would be favored over Coal Canyon” as a landfill site.

Fault, Contamination

Other potential problems identified by the report include one nearby active earthquake fault and ground contamination by organic compounds.

Coal and Gypsum canyons were selected as the sites for study last year after the General Services Agency proposed the areas for both a landfill and a new jail. Residents of nearby Anaheim Hills have opposed both proposals.

Ronald Lofy of Lockman & Associates in Monterey Park, which prepared the canyon study along with the Earth Technology Corp. in Long Beach, said Tuesday that more studies are needed before a final decision is made by the county.

Consultants originally thought the issue would be “very clear-cut, go or no-go,” Lofy said. But the study revealed several problems, including water flows from Coal Canyon into the Santa Ana River, which replenishes the county’s water supply through basins a few miles downstream from the canyons.

Nereus Richardson, Orange County Water District engineer, said Wednesday that the county is concerned about the interconnection between the canyons and the river. More studies are needed to ensure that precautions such as building an underground dam would prevent any seepage of pollutants into the county’s water supply, he said.

The Whittier Fault

Another problem the consultants found was the proximity of the active Whittier Fault, about one-quarter of a mile from Cole Canyon and about a mile from Gypsum Canyon.

The site also contains a high concentration of man-made organic compounds such as chlorine, according to the report. The deposits were left from rocket tests during the mid-1950s and 1960s, and also as a result of earlier mining work, Lofy said. An unknown portion of the area could “conceivably, possibly be contaminated,” Lofy said.

With proper precautions, such as a clay cover beneath and on top of the landfill, contamination of the water table is preventable, said Lofy and Frank Bowerman of the county’s waste management program.

Anaheim Hills resident Sydney Minich, contending that the landfill would turn the area into “a wasteland,” is one of several organizers planning a town meeting with city and county officials for May 10.

Minich said residents fear that the precautions would not be enough. She said she expects at least 500 residents to show up at the town meeting to discuss the jail and landfill proposals.

‘Unsanitary Landfill’

“They call it a sanitary landfill, but it would be an unsanitary landfill if toxic waste seeps through,” Minich said.

Bowerman said the county has the technical and financial ability to create the landfill “without endangering the ground water one bit.”

The county would follow the report’s recommendations to ensure that waste does not leak into the ground, he said. Gypsum Canyon is so large, Bowerman said, that 1,500 tons of rubbish could be dumped into it daily for 100 years.

“The fact is that the canyon is so large, that for the first 50 years, (parts of the canyon will) probably be used for parks and other purposes,” Bowerman said.

“The concerns of the people who live nearby are real because they live nearby. But the reality is that we have to have somewhere to place our waste,” Bowerman added.

Charlene LaClaire, a member of the Anaheim Planning Commission, disagreed and said the proposed site poses a danger not only for Anaheim Hills but for the county. “There’s a good chance that it’ll pollute all the water in Orange County,” LaClaire declared.

Irv Pickler, a member of the Anaheim City Council and the Orange County Waste Management Advisory Commission, said he wants 100% assurance that the waste will not seep through. “It’s scary,” Pickler said of the proposed landfill.

No Guarantees

Lofy said there are no guarantees because “there will always be a certain amount of leakage. Nothing is ever 100% impermeable,” he pointed out. But the small amount that may seep through would not pose a danger, he said.

“They want government to dispose of those four or five garbage cans--out of sight, out of mind,” Lofy said. “They produce it, but they don’t want to have it in their community.”

Bowerman agreed, “The fact is that nobody wants a landfill in their backyard.”

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to hear the advisory commission’s recommendation Tuesday.